About the Film

Presales have ended | Standby line tickets released before the show after pass holders enter only (first come).

Leonard Bernstein, one of the most influential classical musicians of the 20th century, was a complex, larger-than-life, colorful genius. His

flamboyant onstage presence—the swaying, jumping, and arm swinging—were not affectations but the means to achieve a great orchestral performance. His film and musical theater scores (ON THE TOWN, ON THE WATERFRONT, and WEST SIDE STORY) are unforgettable, and his 1950s televised Young People’s Concerts with the New York Philharmonic broke down barriers and reached large audiences worldwide.

The documentary features illuminating interviews with other conductors, Bernstein’s children (including our special guest, daughter Jamie Bernstein), and luminaries of the music world (including Stephen Sondheim and Sir Peter Jonas), complemented by family photos and clips from Bernstein’s performances, compositions, and TV programs, all of which tell his life story—marked by conflict with his family and numerous alleged affairs—in a creative, nonlinear way. In so doing, the noted director of award-winning documentaries on conductors Herbert von Karajan, Georg Solti, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, has made what may be the best documentary on this legendary conductor, composer, and bon vivant.

Ticket bundles available, includes discounted book. Presented in partnership with The Jewish Book Council. Book sales, signing, and reception after the film. Note: books sold after the show are not discounted. Arrive early. Get in standby line.

Guests

Author, Jamie Bernstein is the oldest daughter of revered composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein. She offers a rare look at her father on the centennial of his birth in a deeply intimate and broadly evocative memoir. Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein, is an intoxicating tale and an intimate meditation on a complex and sometimes-troubled man, the family he raised, and the music he composed that became the soundtrack of their entwined lives.

Misha Berson chief theatre critic for The Seattle Times for 25 years will moderate the conversation. Berson is currently a freelance writer and teacher, her work appears in The Seattle Times, American Theatre, Crosscut and other publications. Theatre Communications Group listed Berson among the most influential theatre critics in America. She is the author of four books, most recently "Something's Coming, Something Good: West Side Story and the American Imagination".